NASA Curiosity takes its last selfie on ridge of Mars

After spending over a year on the ridge of the Red Planet Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover has finally captured its last selfie as it embarks on a new sight on the planet.

"Curiosity rover has taken its last selfie on the Vera Rubin Ridge and descended toward a clay region of Mount Sharp. The twisting ridge on Mars has been the rover's home for more than a year, providing scientists with new samples and new questions to puzzle over," NASA said in a statement on Monday.

Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager to take a series of 57 pictures which were then merged to produce a single image. The selfie shows a location called Rock Hall, which the roller drilled on January 15.

The Rock Hall drill hole is visible in the image. the scene is dustier than it usually is at the location due to a regional dust storm. The spacecraft has been exploring the ridge since September 2017.

Curiosity will now be heading into the "clay-bearing unit", which is situated south of the ridge. The clay minerals in this area might have more clues about the ancient lakes that helped form the lower levels on Mount Sharp, said NASA.

Curiosity landed on the surface of Mars in 2012 and was designed to study whether the Red Planet had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes.